A Canadian golf club is thriving after new path alleviated U.S. 'border issues'

USA Today

10 hours ago

A Canadian golf club has seen an uptick in play and interest after a small piece of land adjacent to the U.S. border was donated for a cart path.
Aroostook Valley Country Club, a picturesque A.W. Tillinghast design, sits just along the eastern side of the international border between the state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick. For years, Canadian players would drive along north-south traveling Russell Road — which sits just a few feet inside the U.S. border — before exiting into a U.S. parking lot and then walking across an unpatrolled border to the Canadian course.
The club welcomed players from both countries for decades, with golfers taking advantage of the area's relaxed border to play at their leisure. The membership was often about a 50-50 split between Americans and Canadians.
After 9/11, however, U.S. Border Patrol began to monitor the region and those who tried to go back and forth freely were often stopped or even denied. Since the shoulder of the road was in Canadian territory, players would park at a Canadian parking lot, then drive along the side of Russell Road, an often treacherous path that flirted with oncoming traffic and did damage to the road's edge.
Understandably, Canadian participation at the club dwindled. According to a story in the Portland Press Herald back in 2020, two-thirds of the club's Canadian players dropped out prior to the 2021 season.
But finally, a solution has helped change the fortunes of the club.
One home on the Canadian side of Russell Road, previously owned by Nickolaj and Marion Pedersen before their deaths, provided a bridge between the access road and the club. Mary Pedersen, a Canadian physician, decided to donate a strip of land to create a new path that will allow players to get back and forth without danger.
According to a story at CBC.ca:
It created a happy ending for the tiny Canadian community of neighbors on this U.S. road.
"We grew up together. It was heartbreaking seeing all that happen," Pedersen said of the 20-plus years of hassles.
"I just feel really, really happy giving this land to them. I know Mum and Dad would have been extremely happy to see it."
The club held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the trail with her and her son Mark in July.
"It made all the difference for them to donate this land and be able to build this road and drive straight out to the club house," Lynn Dooling, the reigning women's champion at the club.
"It's just been phenomenal."
There are still issues to be fixed. Those along the U.S. side now have a tougher journey to get to the course. But the club is back in a better position than it was before the path was built.
Americans, who used to make up about half of the club's membership, are now the ones who must cross the border through a legal checkpoint and take the long way around to the club.
Stephen Leitch, the club manager and golf pro, said this has affected membership numbers among Maine residents near the club, but business is good for American green-fee golfers — visitors to the state who come up to experience the novelty of the course and its scenic location for a day or two.
As he prepares for the club's centennial celebrations in 2029, Leitch said the oddity of the setting, and the unusual way of getting there, could become part of the appeal.
"There's not that many places where you have to shuttle in to the golf course over that distance on a golf cart to play such a beautiful course," he said.
"But when you come up over the hill after driving through that potato field, and you wonder to yourself, 'Where in the heck are we going,' and … you see this oasis, you say 'Oh, this is why,' and that's exactly what's happening. People are finding a charm in that."